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Lebanon Becomes the 2nd Front as Israel Widens Strikes on Hezbollah
Expanded Israeli strikes and troop deployments in southern Lebanon intensify the spillover from the US-Israel campaign against Iran and pressure Beirut to curb attacks from its territory
By Keren Setton/The Media Line
Smoke and dust rose over parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs early Wednesday as Israel widened strikes on Hezbollah and reinforced forces along the border, turning the Israel-Lebanon arena into the most immediate second front of the US-Israel war with Iran.
Over the past 24 hours, Israeli officials have described the moves as limited and defensive, including additional troop deployments into southern Lebanon and expanded airstrikes deeper into the country, as Israel warned it would broaden operations if attacks from Lebanon continue.
Israeli military statements said the strikes targeted Hezbollah command centers and weapons storage sites in Beirut and other locations in Lebanon, as the pace of exchanges accelerated and warnings and evacuation-related messaging spread across parts of the capital and southern areas.
On the Lebanese side, the Health Ministry has reported at least 40 people killed and hundreds wounded in the latest wave of strikes, while tens of thousands of civilians fled their homes amid growing concern that the confrontation is sliding into a broader, open-ended campaign.
Lebanon’s political leadership moved to publicly distance the state from Hezbollah’s actions, with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam calling Hezbollah’s military activity “illegal” and signaling an effort to prevent attacks launched from Lebanese territory.
“We will not accept anyone dragging the country into adventures that threaten its security and unity,” Salam posted on his X account Saturday, warning Hezbollah against joining Iranian retaliation against Israel.
Israeli officials framed Hezbollah’s decision to enter the fight as part of Iran’s regional playbook, and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a direct warning aimed at Hezbollah’s leadership.
“Hezbollah will pay a heavy price for the shooting towards Israel, and Naim Qassem, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, who decided on the shooting under pressure from Iran—is now a target for elimination,” read a social media post by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. “Whoever follows in the path of Khamenei will soon find himself with him in the depths of hell along with all the thwarted elements of the axis of evil.”
From Israel’s perspective, the widening Lebanon front is tied directly to the wider conflict with Tehran, with Israeli officials arguing that Hezbollah remains an Iranian instrument even after heavy losses in earlier rounds.
“Ideologically, Hezbollah still has very close ties to Iran,” Avraham Levine, a speaker and digital content manager at the Alma Research and Education Center, a security think tank in northern Israel, told The Media Line. “Nothing has changed; Hezbollah is still a main tool for Iran when it comes to Israel.”
That escalation has threatened to unravel a fragile ceasefire that largely held after the 2023–2024 Israel-Hezbollah war, which displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border before an internationally brokered truce reduced hostilities.
“Hezbollah has now challenged this ceasefire by joining the war, no less,” Levine said. “The likely scenario is a continuation of Hezbollah fire, keeping Israel busy on another front and applying pressure by showing support for Iran.”
Levine said Hezbollah will likely attempt limited, targeted attacks against Israeli military positions along the border rather than stage a major ground incursion into Israeli territory.
“We have launched an offensive campaign against Hezbollah. We are not only operating defensively; we are now going on the offensive as well,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Monday at a briefing with senior commanders. “We must prepare for many prolonged days of combat ahead. This requires strong defensive readiness and sustained offensive readiness, operating in continuous waves while constantly utilizing opportunities.”
Israeli officials have also pointed to a broader target set tied to Hezbollah’s operational infrastructure in Lebanon, including financial networks, while warning civilians away from Hezbollah-linked sites as strikes widened beyond the border area.
Separately, the Lebanon escalation has unfolded alongside a fifth day of coordinated US-Israel strikes on Iran, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning the campaign may take “some time” even as both allies highlighted early battlefield gains and Iranian retaliation continued to reach Israel.
In the opening days, Israeli and US officials said the two militaries established air superiority over Iran by degrading key air-defense capabilities, enabling sustained strikes on missile infrastructure, command nodes, and other strategic targets.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the initial phase of the campaign, along with other senior Iranian commanders, according to Israeli and US statements and multiple reports.
The US military has also said it struck Iranian naval assets, casting the maritime dimension as part of a wider effort to limit Iran’s regional leverage and threat posture.
“Targeting the navy is of utmost importance and can remove one of Iran’s main tools which it has used to threaten countries in the region and threaten the continuity of international trade,” Meir Ben-Shabbat, head of the Misgav Institute for National Security and former national security adviser, told The Media Line.
Ben-Shabbat argued that the early phase of the campaign showed unusually close operational coordination between Washington and Jerusalem, including a high interception rate for incoming fire.
“First and foremost, the close cooperation between Israel and the US must be noted. The amount and quality of the strikes is testament to high-quality intelligence and high operational abilities of the Israeli air force, in addition to a high success rate of air defense systems in Israel,” Ben-Shabbat said.
Iran has continued launching ballistic missiles and drones toward Israel, with Israeli outlets reporting that at least 12 people have been killed and more than 60 injured since the war began, alongside additional strikes causing damage and injuries in central Israel.
“To all of these achievements, we must add the significant performance of the US military that, in addition to managing and coordinating the effort, conducted over 1,000 strikes against major power centers in Iran,” Ben-Shabbat said.
For now, the most immediate question is whether the Israel-Lebanon front remains a contained escalation or becomes a sustained campaign that draws Lebanon deeper into the regional war, especially as Beirut’s government faces pressure to translate its public warnings into enforcement on the ground.
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